Brogna, administrative assistant at Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge, says it's a good possibility she will be laid off if the state House of Representatives goes along with the Senate and backs the tax.

The Senate was sneaky in approving the tax on a quick voice vote with no roll call, Brogna added Thursday during a protest on Beacon Hill against the proposed tax.

"I don't think they are listening to people," she said.

About 100 owners and employees of package stores and representatives of brewers and distributors participated in the protest.

Yankee Spirits has about 125 employees at its three package stores in the state.

Standing on the steps of the Statehouse, people held signs that said, "No more alcohol taxes" and "Massachusetts: the economic stimulus for New Hampshire."

Package store owners said they are currently struggling because of high taxes on cigarettes and competition from surrounding states, especially New Hampshire, which has no sales tax or bottle deposit law.

The retail sale of beer and alcohol is currently exempt from the state's 5 percent sales tax.

Representatives of the Massachusetts Package Store Association, based in West Springfield, said they have collected 50,000 signatures from customers who oppose the proposed tax.

"I'm fearful for my members," said Frank J. Anzalotti, of Longmeadow, executive director of the association. "I see a lot of them losing a lot of business."

The proposed tax would add 50 cents to an $8 six-pack of beer and about 94 cents to a $15 bottle of wine.

David Falcone, a spokesman for Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, defended the tax, saying that $80 million from the tax would be used to restore cuts to important health programs, including treatment of substance abuse, grants to prevent youth violence, suicide prevention and treatment of AIDS.

Falcone said Massachusetts is one of only six states without a sales tax on the retail sale of beer and alcohol.

Vicker V. DiGravio, co-chairman of the Campaign for Addiction Prevention, Treatment and Recovery, said the tax would prevent the loss of $12 million to $18 million in federal matching money for substance abuse services.

"It would help us maintain funding for vital services for substance abuse treatment," DiGravio said.

Also, the higher the alcohol tax, the less people drink, he said. A higher tax would particularly discourage underage and problem drinking, he said.

"It's good fiscal policy, and it's good public health policy," he said.

The Senate voted to approve the tax on May 19 as part of its version of the state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

The House took no action on the alcohol tax. The fate of the tax rests with a House-Senate panel crafting a final budget to present to Gov. Deval L. Patrick. Patrick also proposed the tax when he submitted his budget in January.

The alcohol tax would go into effect about Sept. 1, along with an increase in the state's 5 percent sales tax to 6.25 percent. Both the House and the Senate have approved the proposed increase in the sales tax.